I've tracked down a block to put into my '66 122. (As you may recall in an earlier thread, the engine threw a rod.) This engine came out of a '75 240.

I wanted to get the opinion of others here about what cam(s) I should consider in this "new" engine. The b-20 that was in the car had the ipd street performance / isky cam.

I always really appreciated the extra guts the car had in the mid to upper RPM range, but was never really happy with the rough idle, the fuel consumption, or the (relatively) low power output from a dead stop. The rough idle also caused the engine to vibrate quite a bit more than I'd like.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere in-between (with a lean towards the performance side of the spectrum.)

Any opinions on which cam to keep an eye out for? I was thinking an early D grind would be a good choice but I'm not sure how it would compare to the isky cam I had before. Are there any options other options worth considering?

In regards to the D cam, is there an easy way to identify the difference between an early D and a later one?

Thanks as always.
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Thanks for all the input below. Lots of good stuff in this thread.

It sounds like the D cam is the one for me.

If anyone cares to see what progress I'm making on the project, check out my blog. I'm actually updating it again! (I'll make another post tonight.)


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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

but was never really happy with the rough idle, the fuel consumption, or the (relatively) low power output from a dead stop.

That cam is mild, so the rough running, idling & poor economy is a poorly tuned engine.

Are you intending to stay with twin HS6 SU's? Do you have dual springs?

If sticking to twin SU's, adding duration doesn't help much, so K cam is good with stock springs (It's like a high lift C cam). With dual springs, a D is good, or an aftermarket cam with some more lift on the inlet & more duration on the exhaust.
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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

When I say rough idle and low fuel economy, I mean it in a relative way. Neither was horrible on the car (because I did have the timing and carbs all set correctly), but compared to the idle and mileage I had with the original untouched b-18 that the car came to me with, it wasn't as good.

I'm going to stick with SUs. No plans to do any head work at this point. When I pulled the head off the dead engine I didn't see any sign of damage. (Plus I really just don't have the money to have head work done right now.)
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

It's a jetting/tune problem. With that cam you would need to speed up the rate at which the timing comes in & find a better needle & possibly spring for the SU's.

With a stock head & springs + SU's, use a K cam & B20E distributor curve. If you can get someone to special grind the cam, use a K for the inlet & something longer in duration for the exhaust & it will free up a few free HP in the exhaust. (An 'A3 Cosworth' makes a great exhaust cam to use with stock springs)

SU's are very simple in operation but painfully hard to find a correct needle. After you try a half a dozen different needles & finally work out exactly what it needs, you then find out they don't make that needle anymore. It's best just to stay with cams that have the same duration as the original C cam & just add some lift. K cam has the same duration as the C, so it's best. If you move up to bigger HIF6 SU's, then use D which has a little more duration too, but you really need dual springs with it because the D cam opens faster than the K, that's why they don't last as long as the rest of the engine.


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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

How old was the cam? Looking at the valve adjustment screws in your pictures, looked like the cam was worn.

A worn valve train can give you poor idle and performance.

Paul

The cam was (supposedly) new when I had the bottom end of the engine built out.

The valves might not look in spec because I turned the crank after I got the head off. (I also hadn't adjusted the valves in a while.)
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

Where does John Parkers street performance cam and Phil S' mppe cam fit in this evaluation and while we are at it, the Volvo R cam ? David

The cam in the original MPPE is the 296 degree Enem K19 from Sweden. It's a lot more cam than I'd even consider trying to run with SUs. Performance is roughly like the Volvo S.

For customer engines that have sufficient budget, I have cams custom ground by Schneider Racing. I've used 264 duration for "street torque" applications, 274 for "street performance," and 284 as a "rally" cam. Lobe separation varies a bit depending on the carburetion and displacement. Those out-perform the Volvo C, D and R, respectively.

For lower-budget engine, I like the D grind. With a well-ported head, it gives you a nice fat torque curve and a smooth idle, even with SUs.

When comparing modern cams with older cams, the duration and lift numbers don't tell you much, so don't worry about those.

Today (well, yesterday at this point I guess), I starting pulling the old engine apart. Check out the picture I took right after I pulled the valve cover:



You'll notice that one of the pushrods is completely missing. It must be in the pan somewhere.

I'm all but certain that the cam will need to be replaced at this point.
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When your adjusters at that far out, your rocker ratio would be lucky to be 1:1.4. I would say that the cam that was in it was a regrind & not new originally.



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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

Interesting comment there and I assume that is due to the base circle being ground. I believe that the B30 pushrod is a fraction longer than the B18/20 one, can these be used to bring the rockers back to better position?

I believe that the B30 pushrod is a fraction longer than the B18/20 one

I've heard people say that, but it isn't true. The B30 cam is bigger in diameter & the block is the same height, so if they were going to be different, they would logically be shorter, not longer.

If I'm adding lift to the cam, I try & leave the valve a little longer & shorten the pedestals at least 50% of the extra lobe lift. To get max lift, you then make the pushrods as long as possible & then you exceed 1:1.5 ratio easily.

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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

I'll bet the flailing rod smashed the cam into several pieces.

When my 245's motor let go, the intermediate rod (which is basically a vestigal camshaft - same position in the block, still used to sping a distributor and oil pump) was smashed into 4 pieces. One of which was rather flung through the block - I found it sitting on the frame rail when I opened the hood to see what had caused the loud, oily explosion.

I doubt the pushrod survived it's trip into the basement, might as well get a set of snazzy looking tubular pushrods along with a set of 8 SBC lifters (buy a set of an 'Iron Duke' 4 cylinder) along with a cam. Bought directly from them, it's not that spendy.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

My guess is the pushrod broke in half and is in the galley. I doubt the lifter could get past the cam unless the cam just plain broke off at the last lobe. Even then...? Don't write off the cam til you see the dead body. Volvos are tough.

Isky sells a bunch of different grinds to B18/B20s:

http://iskycams.com/cart/ymm.php?keyword=volvo

Maybe somebody can give an analysis of which cam grind does what?

Paul

BTW-Everybody states that IPD's Street Performance cam is an Isky VV-71 cam, but the only "71" cam Isky list is a "W-71"?

VV = W. heh, I'm probably guilty of typing it both ways.

From what I understand, the ??61 is what IPD sells as a 'street torque' cam - probably more suited to a car with an automatic transmission. Low end torque, not made to rev. What's the comparison to a 'C' grind cam? No clue. Both are fairly tractor-ish cams.

>>71 is what IPD sells as a 'Street Performance' cam. Built to rev, but still works pretty well on an otherwise stock motor. It's a little bit peppier than a D cam, main powerband is a little higher.

I've got the 81 on mine and it waits until 3300 rpm or so to come on, but then it screams up past 7000 rpm. Plenty of supporting mods on the motor to make that worthwhile. And really, that first 1000 - 3300 rpm pull probably involves only the first 30 feet of movement from a stop in 1st gear, and from then on you can easily shift to stay above 3300 rpm. And really, even below 3300 rpm it probably has more power than a stock motor does at that rpm, it just pales in comparison to what happens above.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

Hi John,

I'm curious about the other mods you mentioned above that you've done to your engine.

As for mine, about the only one I did on the old engine was the dual down-port exhaust, which is 2" all the way back.

I pulled the '75 engine apart yesterday. Today it heads to the machine shop.
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- pair of DCOE 40 carbs (yes, B20Paul, 45's would probably be better!)
- R-sport head with very large valves, double valve springs, and lots of port work vs. stock
- 4:1 header and 2.25" exhaust with mandrel bends and a couple of 18" glass packs
- higher ratio roller rockers
- 2.1L bottom end
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

yes, B20Paul, 45's would probably be better!

What you have is stock on a 2 litre Alfa which makes less power than a B20E & peaks at 5500rpm.

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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.

John
Did you use the IPD big bore pistons? I have a B20 bored for those pistons and was going to do something similar to yours with 42mm Webers, FI head and a "rally" cam. Ive since decided that i really don't need something that hairy to drive around in my Duett (especially with that tiny gas tank), so Im going to go with the 1 3/4" SUs and the double down pipe exhaust. With the extra displacement, I don't know what to pick for the cam and the exhaust size. It seems 2" and 2 1/4" seem to be the most popular. It'll have to be a fabricated system for the Duett anyway.

Thanks for your opinions and help.
Bob

I used B21FT pistons. FT (turbo) pistons for the dish, because when I got the R-sport head it was shaved down a ridiculous amount for a very high compression ratio. And I needed the extra CC's of combustion chamber volume.

I used lighter B18 rods, and had the small end bushings pressed out and lightly reamed for an interference fit on the B21 24mm wristpins.

Without a lot of added flow from the head (primarily the exhaust ports) you probably won't get much added higher RPM power, but you will gain low rpm torque. So you probably won't want a high revving sort of cam, a D would probably be good.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

I have a K cam in the B20 in my 67 wagon, has lots of get up and go. It came re-built with 0 miles on it, so I know nothing about the build.

K cams are exceedingly close to D cams.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

The Isky VV71 is not that different than the D cam. D cam has just a bit less duration and a bit wider lobe centers. I have found a good bit of variation from one "D" cam to another. Variation from lobe to lobe too on D cams too. Not too sure about QC on the D cams.

You could have your local cam grinder make just what you want.

I have a D cam, and it seems to work fine. Stock dual exhaust manifold, weber two barrel, 2" exhaust pipe.

I like the D (there are two types?).

I didn't know there was an early vs. late D grind. But D grind are nice on relatively stock engines.
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'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 (now w/16V turbo)

i have an isky cam and lifters with weber non progressive carb and mallory dist.smooth idle no hesitation pulls strong to 5k where it screams.

I ran a D in my injected B20E in my 122. Had lots of giddy-up and was easy to drive.
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Dale

Hello,

I became so disgusted with the lack of quality aftermarket camshafts, that I finally had to buy an original Volvo "D" camshaft right from Volvo USA at a cost of over $400.00.

I then sent it to a highly respected camshaft manufacturer and had it copied.

I usually have them in stock and I sell them for less than IPD sells their Isky camshafts.

FYI, TRW used to make very high quality copies of the "D" camshaft as well as valves and valve springs, but when Federal-Mogul(I say Mongols, as in mindless barbarians who think nothing but of themselves and their almighty quest for a dollar instead of commitment to high quality and service) purchased TRW, they shut down the TRW valve train division.

I believe Federal-Mogul shut down TRW valve train because they already had bought a camshaft manufacturer, Sealed Power/Speed Pro.

But Sealed Power/Speed Pro don't make Volvo valve train components and camshafts for pushrod motors.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Eric
Hi Performance Automotive Service (formerly OVO or Old Volvos Only)
Torrance, CA 90502

Hi Eric, Are your D cams dual pattern? Do you have lift & duration info?

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Three 164's, Two 144's, One 142 & a partridge in a pear tree.